In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Paul KrugmanarguesDonald Trump is right on economics. This defense of Trump comes after Jeb Bush began attacking Trump as a false conservative for previously supporting a single-payer health care system, raising taxes on the wealthy, and having a relatively pro-choice stance on abortion.

Trump’s candidacy continues to turn the political world on its head. Even Massachusetts Democrat, Elizabeth Warren, briefly mentioned she agrees with Donald Trump on certain issues, one being an increased tax on billionaires.

Granted, Warren supporting taxes on billionaires should not come as a surprise. Although, what is intriguing is that the Republican front-runner continues to lead in the polls after being criticized for false conservatism. An indictment like this in previous Republican primaries would sink a candidate’s campaign.

The ability of Trump to remain high in Republican primary polls proves voter sentiments are changing and their representatives aren’t changing with it.

Krugman’s article criticizes the state of GOP politics through Bush’s strategy to attack Trump on everything but his implicit racism. As the once-favored Republican front-runner, Bush is using the same conservative talking points that Mitt Romney used against Obama in 2012, and they didn’t work.

Romney denounced Obama’s stance to raise taxes on the wealthy, arguing Obama favored a redistribution of income even though 58 percent of Americans agree the wealthy pay too little in taxes.

Krugman’s central point is that supply-side economics has proven to be an inaccurate portrayal of how the economy produces jobs and laments that every GOP candidate besides Donald Trump must support the supply-side doctrine in order to get donors. It is a critique of campaign finance and conservative economics, something that Donald Trump seems to be defying.

While Krugman doesn’t actually make the case for Trump, there is something in Trump’s campaign that defies partisan politics-as-usual. For a Republican front-runner to remain at the top of polls after being accused of supporting taxes on the wealthy and a singly-payer health care system might just mean that political parties, as they have been conducting business, need to alter their playbook in favor of voters.

About the Author

Caitlin Hurkes

Received her BA in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach and her MA in Political Science from San Diego State University. Interested in institutions of participatory democracy and issues in political economy. She currently resides in Denver, Colorado.